Arsene Wenger interested in Martin Caceres & Cristian Zapata

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has made the centre-back pairing of Barcelona’s Martin Caceres and Udinese’s Cristian Zapata his priority when the transfer window re-opens in the summer.

Martin Caceres, who is on loan at struggling Serie A giants Juventus and is set to return to Barcelona in the summer where he is deemed surplus to requirements. Wenger is said to be reluctant to pay the £10 million asking price, however it is thought the Catalan club will be open to offers for the international who has 18 caps for Uruguay.

The Arsenal Manager is also ready to make an offer for Udinese centre-back Cristian Zapata the other defender high on Wenger’s summer transfer shortlist. The Colombian international has interested a number of top European clubs, with his summer value set to be in the region of £6 million.

Last summer the centre-back revealed Wenger had asked for information on his services.

He said: "Juventus, Fiorentina, Milan, Arsenal and Villarreal have requested information about me," said Zapata. "There are many teams that are keen to sign me but an official offer has not been made so far.